


Desperate Times

by nekocrouton



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8776750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekocrouton/pseuds/nekocrouton
Summary: Written for the Uncharted Advent Calendar over on Tumblr.The prompt was: “Here, you can wear my gloves.”The brothers are trying their best to survive a cold, cold night out on the streets.  Set back sometime before the events in Panama.





	

The temperature had drastically dropped earlier in the evening, and it seemed like it was official; winter had arrived.  Which was unfortunate for Nathan and Sam, considering that they didn’t have anywhere proper to stay for the night.  They didn’t have the money for a motel, not even enough for one of the seediest ones in the rough part of town, and considering that Nathan was still a minor, that meant that the shelters were out of the question too.  The moment that they even dared to step into one, Nathan would no doubt get whisked away by child protective services.  And Sam sure as hell didn’t want to risk _that_.

 

So instead, they hunkered down in an abandoned building for the night, managing to break into it through a window that someone had neglected to unlock.  They were protected from the elements for the most part, but the chill that cut through them was unavoidable.  With no blankets or a proper heat source, all they had were the clothes on their back and each other to protect themselves from the cold.

 

“I’m cold,” Nathan said with a chatter of teeth as a white cloud of breath puffed out from between his lips.  He huddled up closer to Sam while they sat curled up in a corner of the room, the concrete floor not doing them any favors and only making the room feel that _much_ colder.

 

“Me too, Nathan,” Sam admitted as he pulled his little brother in tighter, doing his best to preserve the heat between them.  If he had known that it was going to get _so_ cold that night, he would have done a better job in finding themselves a decent place to stay, and he would have definitely lifted a couple of wallets from some easy targets in order to scrape the cash together for it.  “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

 

“It’s hard when it’s so _cold_ ,” Nathan whined softly as he hugged his arms around his chest.  “My hands are _freezing_ too.”

 

Sam looked down at his own hands, which were covered with a pair of leather gloves that he had stolen from a mall stand recently.  Well, he was pretty sure that they were _fake_ leather, but they did a pretty good job anyway.  “Here, you can wear my gloves,” he said as he started to strip them off his hands and then handed them over to his little brother.  “And remind me tomorrow to get a pair for you too.”

 

“Are you sure?”  Nathan asked as he took the offered gloves and slid them on, finding them still warm from Sam’s hands.  They felt good, almost _heavenly_ against the sharp chill of the air.  “Won’t you get cold too?”

 

“I’ll be fine,” Sam insisted as he tucked a hand underneath one of Nathan’s arms and then curled the other against his own chest.  “Don’t worry about me.”

 

“These are a little big for me,” Nathan giggled as he held his hands out, showing his older brother how loose they were on him by flopping them back and forth.

 

Sam laughed.  “You’ll grow into them eventually,” he said with a soft smile as he lifted a hand to ruffle Nathan’s hair.  “Now get some rest.”

 

“Okay,” Nathan agreed as he nuzzled up to Sam, pressing his face against his chest and closing his eyes.

 

It wasn’t long before Sam heard a light snore come from his little brother, and he allowed his own eyes to close as well.  He was still _freezing_ , but the little pocket of warmth radiating from Nathan helped to thaw him out just enough so that he could get some rest too.  As he dozed off, he thought to himself that he’d do better for the both of them tomorrow.  But for now, they’d be okay.


End file.
